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== Why is WildTangent Speedway no longer up for download?!? ==
== Why is WildTangent Speedway no longer up for download?!? ==


<big>When I little, I used to play this game on my first Windows XP PC before it was broken but not anymore. On the Fortune City website, every time I go to the download link for it, it takes me to some random "About WildTangent" website. Please click on the link below and you will see why.</big>
When I little, I used to play this game on my first Windows XP PC before it was broken but not anymore. On the Fortune City website, every time I go to the download link for it, it takes me to some random "About WildTangent" website. Please click on the link below and you will see why.


<big>http://members.fortunecity.com/mpegx/aplugingame.shtml</big>
http://members.fortunecity.com/mpegx/aplugingame.shtml


[[Special:Contributions/68.224.119.202|68.224.119.202]] ([[User talk:68.224.119.202|talk]]) 21:07, 4 January 2012 (UTC)
[[Special:Contributions/68.224.119.202|68.224.119.202]] ([[User talk:68.224.119.202|talk]]) 21:07, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Revision as of 22:10, 4 January 2012

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December 29

Michelle Pfeiffer - Power Passion and Murder

Why is Power Passion and Murder not credited to Michelle pfeiffer in the filmography section? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.236.19.35 (talk) 01:36, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Because there does not appear to have ever been a movie under that title, or, at least, none that IMDB can find: see [1]. --Jayron32 01:54, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It exists. I found it on several sites via Google. It looks like it first came out in 1987 and came to DVD in 1999. Here's the page from Rotten Tomatoes (not much detail). I don't know why its not on IMDB. RudolfRed (talk) 02:03, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Because, like Wikipedia, IMDb is fed by user contributions, although its protocols and access levels are differently organised. If nobody has ever brought a particular movie or actor or to IMDb's notice, they wouldn't list them. -- Jack of Oz [your turn]
It apparently has another name: Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Natica Jackson. The Mark of the Beast (talk) 03:41, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
AHA. That explains it. Tales from the Hollywood Hills was apparently a series of TV movies made in 1987-1988. If you do some searches for that specific phrase, you can find info on many of them. --Jayron32 04:26, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Getting back to Jack's point, production companies and such often add roles to actor/actress filmographies on IMDb. It would be surprising to me that a company wouldn't put their film on IMDb especially when someone as well known as Pfeiffer was in it. Dismas|(talk) 17:34, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Surprising indeed. Maybe it's a simple case of human error of omission. -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 08:14, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

computer animated movie

Why would it cost so much to make a computer-animated movie? I realise that the film-maker will have expenses for render-farm time and salaries for talented animators, lighters, modelers, etc; but why might the cost of such a film approach the same dozens of millions of dollars as a non-computer animated film?

Duomillia (talk) 02:33, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You could make a cheap computer animation film, if you film things computers do easily, like geometric shapes and fractal patterns. It's having people and creatures fully animated that makes it expensive.
Looking at it another way: How long would it take you to draw one frame of animation ? How many frames are there in a movie ? Now multiply. StuRat (talk) 04:41, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
If you're making a live-action film (without many special effects) the big labour-intensive and expensive part is shooting it with the actors on camera, which may take 10 or 20 weeks; Toy Story 3 took over 3 years to make, and most of that time was labour-intensive and skilled work. This Wired article summarises the process[2] - there are a lot of steps involved in producing the visuals from modelling to animation to rendering (voice recording and screenplay rewrites were done at the same time). A lot of making a conventional feature film doesn't take many people (e.g. film editing is 1 or 2 people in a small room) but on an animated film you have 3 or 4 years with dozens (more likely hundreds) of people labouring full time. --Colapeninsula (talk) 14:54, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The amount of man-hours involved in making a cartoon is directly proportional to the quality, or lack thereof. Disney and Warner turned out high-quality, full-animation shorts and features, and they were very labor-intensive. Hanna-Barbera settled on "limited animation" for their TV series (The Flintstones, et al.) and were thus able to crank them out faster. And to really do it on the cheap, you could go with the Clutch Cargo approach. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots15:33, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Here's a Clutch Cargo episode for those who are curious [3]. South Park is another example of animation done on the cheap. If it's funny enough, nobody cares how bad it looks. And the best part of watching the Flintstones was counting how many times the same background passed by as they walked or drove anywhere. :-) StuRat (talk) 22:29, 30 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Awesome. With his pals Spinner and Paddlefoot. There's one cartoon where you could actually count the number of individual drawings used. But you learn something new every day: (1) he throws the football-shaped object left-handed, like Tim Tebow; and (2) he's much better than Tebow at hitting the intended receiver. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots11:00, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
This might be an example of the ultimate in cheap animation:[4]Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots10:55, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Yep, funny stuff doesn't really need expensive animation, the cheapness can even be part of the joke. StuRat (talk) 02:44, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
On a related note, the average budget for AAA titles in games nowadays is $10 million to $30 million. Like movies, they also require concept/storyboard/2d artists, art directors, project/team managers, writers, a soundtrack, sfx artists, vfx artists (including shader programmers, etc.), publicity, [voice and/or motion capture animation] actors (which in CG film and games nowadays tend to be actual film actors/actresses), etc. in addition to various coders, UI designers, character/prop 3d modelers and texture artists, animators, level designers, testers, consultants, translators, the time it takes to render the frames, a custom-built world editor, licensing for 3d, 2d, and programming software/stock art or textures/specialized software for realism and/or additional fx (e.g. Terragen; SpeedTree; algorithms/renderers for hyperrealistic hair, fur, and clothing), a lot of the most up-to-date computer hardware, etc.
The main difference is that in games and CG movies, they are actually paying for skilled backbreaking work not for the popularity of an actor/actress. You can pay the annual salary of hundreds of highly skilled 3d artists working full-time (and frequent unavoidable coffee-driven overtime) for the same amount of money you would pay to get a Julia Roberts. -- Obsidin Soul 11:39, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

In other words, you're saying because it take a LARGE number of highly skilled people to make such a movie: (just a hypothetical example) 1 000 highly skilled animators, lighters, modelers, planner, programmers, etc X 100 000 $ = 100 000 000 $. eg Tintin. Duomillia (talk) 14:41, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

frequent documentary/reportage soundtrack song

often it's used as a sonic background for philosofical/religious topics like the future of humankind, life, God, the end of the world and so on, thus is quite ambient and ethereal, new age. At first a woman performs a melody with her voice without speaking words, then she start singing. After I seem a choir of children start to sing. I'd like to find the title.. thanks --192.35.17.21 (talk) 10:58, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Not much to go on but my first thought was "Sanvean" by Lisa Gerrard (which, admittedly, doesn't have a children's choir in it). YouTube clip here. --Viennese Waltz 11:06, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Nearly! Thanks to your advice I found it: Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard - Now We Are Free (no children indeed) --192.35.17.21 (talk) 13:51, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Ah yes, Lisa's the go-to girl for when you want a singer for the future of humankind, life, God and the end of the world all right :) Glad you found it. --Viennese Waltz 14:01, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Boxing

Hi

I wonder if you can help, wikipedia has my brother's boxing history listed under the title all Ireland champion 1985 Gary Muir but when you click on the link, it is another Gary Muir, a footballer and not him the boxer, do you know how I can have this rectified. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.29.247.179 (talk) 23:23, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Irish Boxing Titles (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
I've fixed the link to point to "Gary Muir (boxer)" though we don't have an article on your brother yet, so it's a red link.
Note for other regular editors... Shouldn't the B and T be in lower case? Dismas|(talk) 23:42, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, and they now are. AJCham 02:39, 30 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]


December 30

books about collectibles

I'm trying to find books about Wonder Woman collectibles and The Adventures of Tintin collectibles. When I tried looking on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, I got many titles. What's a good title for what I'm trying to find?24.90.204.234 (talk) 07:22, 30 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The generic term for such is memorabilia. Sometimes specific items have their own names, such as breweriana to refer to items commonly found in pubs such as beermats, glasses and ashtrays. --TammyMoet (talk) 09:56, 30 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Wired question about certain sort of porn

Hi! I have a wired fetish - rich girls. I love them. I look for a list of porn videos with real rich girls as actors. I know only one example. Can you help me find more? :)

Sorry for vulgarity of the question. I'm from Germany. --Ewigekrieg (talk) 20:43, 30 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Reminds me of: I know nothing. I am from Barcelona. -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 22:43, 30 December 2011 (UTC) [reply]
I believe that one of the Kardashians released a sex tape (Kim?)--not sure if she was rich at the time, but she definitely is now. Meelar (talk) 23:11, 30 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Some have become rich by being in porn, does that count? Dismas|(talk) 17:26, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Someone who's already wealthy doesn't need to do porn. Unless they're total exhibitionists or something. I keep waiting for someone to take the question literally and talk about bondage with piano wire or something. Eek. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots17:35, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Montana Fishburne? Adam Bishop (talk) 17:49, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Crave? Dismas|(talk) 03:08, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Spoken intro to old R&R song

Hi All, I have been trying for years to find a song from, I believe, the early 70's. As an intro two (or three?) voices are speaking different words at the same time. Each word is spoken individually, that is they are not part of a sentence, so it would be like...Balance/Copy (spoken together by two different people)...Action/Blanket...Possibility/Extend...I think there were 4 or 5 sets, then a voice says, "Yes, I know," and then the song starts with a lead guitar riff. I don't recall the words being especially meaningful or profound and I don't know if it was actually part of the song or might have a seperate track listing. Thanks for any help! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 148.66.156.178 (talk) 23:52, 30 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It's not the "it's because I'm short, I know" at the start of Daydream Believer by The Monkees, is it? Britmax (talk) 11:39, 5 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If it is that song the exchange is quoted in our article on it. You can really find an article for everything here, can't you? Britmax (talk) 12:27, 5 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

No, that's not it. I have in my mind a band like James Gang but haven't found it on any of their stuff. Thanks


December 31

Alien invasion movie

Watching The Darkest Hour brought to mind another alien invasion movie I watched a few years back, but can't remember the name of. I watched it on the Internet, however, so it could be much older than a few years.

This movie broke with every alien-invasion cliche I can think of. Most alien movies focus on several average-Joe people in a city, a few of which get killed by aliens by the end, and sometimes involves a guy protecting his girlfriend. This movie focuses on one very tough, female-warrior-type girl who protects her friends and family, with other characters going in and out. Also unlike in the cliche, this girl is not likeable, but rather an antihero who's despicable in nearly every way. She has very few admirable qualities, her toughness is more machismo than actual courage, and the audience sometimes wishes that the alien overlords would torment her more cruelly. The aliens are not the soulless machine-like entities we see in the cliche, and despite having a murderous mission, some of them have very charming and likeable personalities. If I remember correctly, the ending was also not the cliched "there's still hope for humanity, though it's a long road ahead"; it was highly unusual and ambiguous.

Does anyone know what movie this is? I really liked it, if only because it was highly unconventional, and I'd like to re-watch it if I could. --99.237.252.228 (talk) 02:47, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

District 9? --Jayron32 02:50, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
No, District 9 is mostly about humans killing and oppressing other sentient beings. That's not really a film cliche; it's just a real-life cliche. --99.237.252.228 (talk) 03:56, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Can you give us more details? What did the aliens look like? What did they do? What was the setting of the film, country, city, etc? What weapons did the alien have? How did they torture her? Did they arrive in space ships that were shown? What powers did they have Can you remember any specific incident? Broad strokes are good but a specific incident will act as much more of a signature for our memories.--108.46.103.88 (talk) 07:43, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Skimming through the top half of IMDb's "alien invasion" films, I think Psychon Invaders (2006 video) is the only one that even remotely fits the bill. Clarityfiend (talk) 21:29, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

What is the song that Hana (the nurse attending to Count Laszlo de Almásy (played by Ralph Fiennes) after he is burned) plays on the piano?Curb Chain (talk) 03:17, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe you mean the Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach. -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 03:19, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Which variation?Curb Chain (talk) 05:57, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Is the song at the beginning of the credits the same?Curb Chain (talk) 07:23, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
You credit my memory with impossible things. Flattering, but we need a link. -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 07:26, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
OK. When she first finds the keyboard, she plays with one hand the tune of the Aria (main theme) from the Goldberg Variations. Then she launches into a slightly abridged second half of Variation No. 1, with all 10 fingers.
The credits open with one of Bach's keyboard concertos (don't know which one), then music by Gabriel Yared, then back to Bach - probably the same concerto as before, but I couldn't swear to it. None of these snippets of Bach were listed in the music credits, but I guess you knew that. Best I can do for now. -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 01:10, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Why do tennis players bounce up and down?

I'm not talking about bouncing the ball. I'm talking about bouncing up and down themselves, particularly while awaiting serve. HiLo48 (talk) 03:49, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Helps to keep them limber, like stretching before a jog ? StuRat (talk) 03:54, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
But stretching before a jog is done when the body has been idle for a while. The bouncing I speak of happens on almost every point, in the middle of long matches, when the body is obviously all warmed up and very stretched, and only seconds after playing the previous point. It would like the batter in a baseball game bouncing up and down after every pitch while the ball is being returned to the pitcher. I can't think of a parallel in other sports. HiLo48 (talk) 03:58, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Quarterbacks in American football do this, or something similar, while sitting in the pocket waiting to throw a pass. This is because at any moment, the pass protection may break down and the quarterback may have to scramble to avoid getting tackled. This video and the related ones show that this is a trained technique. This video shows similar training for tennis players. It is also a trained technique there as well. Standing flatfooted in anticipation of having to make a quick move is a bad idea. At least, that's the idea behind bouncing slightly or shuffling the feet. It keeps you mentally and physically ready to move quickly in any direction if you need to. --Jayron32 04:17, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Boxers tend to bounce around a bit, perhaps due to the giant trampoline they are standing on. StuRat (talk) 04:19, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) Also, regarding baseball, batters don't bounce up and down, but many often do wiggle the bat back and forth a bit in anticipation of hitting the ball; same idea. --Jayron32 04:20, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It's all part of their physical and mental preparation - keeping oneself "alert" and poised. Many batters wiggle the bat as Jay says, and most also take swings while waiting for the pitcher to go into his set or windup position. Just watch Jim Thome sometime. And for us old-timers, there was Joe Morgan with his constant "wing-flap" mannerism of his trailing arm. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots10:42, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Taco Bell US TV ad

This ad seems really jerky, like it has a very low frame rate. It's the one where someone brings their taco 12-pack to a party. Has anyone else noticed this ? If not, perhaps my local stations just got a bad copy. StuRat (talk) 06:24, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen the ad several times, and haven't noted that problem. Not that I was looking, but it didn't stand out in that way for me. --Jayron32 06:26, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Tune from Monty Python sketch

At around the six-minute mark in this video, a tune starts playing. Can anyone identify it? LANTZYTALK 10:04, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Can't place it, although it's obviously a bagpipe tune of some kind. Maybe while they're at it, the experts could identify the bagpipe number in this one, also:[5]Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots10:53, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Um, you mean bagpipe as in piano accordion? I would say it's a reel--Shantavira|feed me 13:41, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Fine. The question is whether the tunes are traditional, or just something made up for these sketeches. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots14:45, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I occasionally play in a ceilidh band, and we have literally hundreds of tunes in this style (the Python one, I mean) to choose from. For that reason I'd suspect it's an existing tune rather than one specially written for the programme, but unless someone recognises it it could be difficult to identify it. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 18:02, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
FWIW I just blew the dust of my edition of "The Complete Unexpurgated Scripts" - often a good source for this type of question - but unfortunately the music is not named there.--Shantavira|feed me 20:18, 31 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Obviously it's the instrumental version of "I'm a (Scottish) Lumberjack, and I'm OK". Clarityfiend (talk) 21:34, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Scottish lumberjack" Would that be a caberjock?  :) Btw, what do they call the people who toss cabers? "Caber-tossers"? Maybe just "tossers"? -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 22:12, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
You are correct. Ghmyrtle (talk) 16:17, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Excellent, thank you. -- Jack of Oz [your turn]

January 1

Song in Danish video ?

Happy New Year everyone if you're in 2012 already!

Does anyone know which 80's (?) song is used here in this funny (but Danish so I'm not sure) song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyzs_wwgs-M at 1:05? Thanks! Joepnl (talk) 02:15, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Happy New Year. I added a title to your question. StuRat (talk) 02:37, 1 January 2012 (UTC) [reply]
Are you saying the whole song is not original? The song doesn't seem to sample anything technically or artistically.Curb Chain (talk) 03:50, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Found it! http://www.midomi.com/ is my friend. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp43OdtAAkM 1:00 Kate Bush, Running up that hill. It does sound a bit similar doesn't it? (txs StuRat, and still experimenting with SQL) Joepnl (talk) 04:07, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

gran turismo 5 ffb

hey does anyone know what the default setting for force feedback is? I mean I have it at 1, but it was messed with, and so I'd like to know what the default was Can't seem to find any reset option there thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.35.3.163 (talk) 08:56, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It is set at 5 on my system - I'm almost certain this will be the default setting as I've not used a FFB wheel, so would have had no reason to change it. AJCham 16:18, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Was the song "Lilongo" written originally for "The Three Caballeros"?

I am curious as to whether the song "Lilongo" was written originally for the 1944 Disney film "The Three Caballeros" or if it was written previous to its inclusion in the film. Four of the songs in "The Three Caballeros" ("Os Quindins de Yaya", "Have You Been to Bahia", "Jesusita en Chihuahua", and "La Zandunga") had been written previous to the film, while three of the other songs ("The Three Caballeros", "Bahia", and "You Belong to My Heart") featured lyrics written originally for the film, but used pre-existing melodies. I have been having trouble finding information on the song "Lilongo". I asked about the song in D23's (the official Disney fan club) "Ask Dave" segment, but unfortunately he did not say whether the song was written for the film or not. Here is what he did say:

- "“Lilongo” was written by Felipe “El Charro” Gil, and copyrighted in the U.S. by the music publisher Peer International Corp. in 1946. It is in the Son Jarocho style, a traditional musical style of the southern part of the Mexican state of Veracruz. Gil was born in Misantla, Veracruz, in 1913, into a family of musicians, and he made a study of the music of the area."

I know that the song had to have been written previous to its U.S. copyright date, as "The Three Caballeros" was released two years earlier. Does anybody either know anything about this song or have any ideas on how I could discover its original date of composition?--Jpcase (talk) 21:14, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Movie Title

I am trying to find a title of a drama film (possibly in black and white) about a romance relationship that was stopped by his family being Italian because it was found out that the woman had an unsavoury past. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. Regards Sincerely Dona Lay — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.146.182.120 (talk) 21:18, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Um - that is probably one of the most widely known archetypal plot themes ... ever ... This can be traced at least as far back as Verdi's La Traviata (not a film but an opera, but scroll down to the modern adaptations). 24.92.85.35 (talk) 23:49, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
La T. was based on Dumas's novel/play The Lady of the Camellias, which has directly inspired a host of cinematic treatments; details in the article. The most famous was no doubt the 1936 version of Camille, starring Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor. -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 23:57, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the suggestion but it is not Traviata or Camille it is set in modern times. Regards Dona Lay

Sometimes older plays are set in modern times. For example Romeo_+_Juliet is Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet set in modern day. RudolfRed (talk) 21:53, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the hint but Romeo and Juliet whether it is set in modern times it is a story of its own. Regards Dona Lay — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.146.182.120 (talk) 21:54, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Dona, I fear we need just a little more to go on. The plot you described above could apply to a large number of films. Can you possibly narrow it down a little? -- Jack of Oz [your turn]

Hi Jack. Many thanks for taking this into consideration. You are right my brief sypnosis can apply to a larger number of films. The only snag is that it is not likely to be a big film like Camille or Romeo and Juliet, these can be easily assessed without having to look for them. I have a problem, I probably need a specialist film researcher, perhaps you can address to any. However any suggestions are welcome, but please keep in mind that it is not a big film. Regards, Sincerely, Dona Lay — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.146.182.120 (talk) 21:24, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

January 2

What Arabic channel european

Besides BBC Arabic and France24 Arabic, what other European channels serve Arabic channels for Arabic viewers? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.95.105.235 (talk) 04:43, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Al Jazeera appears to have some Arabic language broadcasting outlets in Europe. --Jayron32 04:46, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
There is also Rusiya Al-Yaum. And if you include satellite channels, in Europe you can get Arabic channels from all over North Africa and the Middle East. Adam Bishop (talk) 13:55, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Deutsche Welle also has Arabic TV services.[6] --Colapeninsula (talk) 21:39, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Telenovelas

What is the longest running telenovela of all time? The Mark of the Beast (talk) 22:02, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Since telenovelas are normally limited-run, this is a bit hard to classify. However, a quick Google search (and check of its Wikipedia article) suggests that the Brazilian series Malhação may be a contender, since it started as a telenovela but has evolved into a more traditional soap-opera style show. --McDoobAU93 22:30, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

January 3

I remember a scene in an old sitcom (I thought it might have been The Wonder Years) in which the father, in a attempt at "colorizing" the families black and white television [without paying a forturne (it must have been set at a time in which they were very new and/or very expensive) or maybe even without the technology existing], puts up a color background on the television, consisting of just green grass and a blue sky.

Now, it was clearly done as a joke, although, I'm positive it was set at a time in which color television was either non-existent or at least very new and/or very expensive and not set at a time in which color television was (and still is) the norm and was just making fun of those times.

My two questions are: 1. Does anybody know which old sitcom and maybe which episode this was from? and 2. Did this actually exist in the real world? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pitman6787 (talkcontribs)

It wasn't a joke, such colorizing acetates did exist, and were used until the 1980s. The Vectrex video game system used such acetates (the Wikipedia article doesn't mention it, but I have first-hand knowledge of their existence). This blog post discusses them in use in 1965. --Jayron32 02:08, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I'll think you'll find it does - "The monochrome Vectrex uses plastic screen overlays to simulate color and various static graphics and decorations." is in the second paragraph old bean. Quintessential British Gentleman (talk) 21:55, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Yep, another memory brought back from the past for me too. They did exist, and I could never see the point. HiLo48 (talk) 02:17, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I've seen them in antique stores. Never understood why anyone would buy one though. When they were new that is... Dismas|(talk) 02:28, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
My grandmother had one of those colored acetates on her TV. The Mark of the Beast (talk) 02:43, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Col-R-Tel was actually rather popular. It is a colored wheel that you bolt to the front of your TV. It spins in sync with the signal to ensure that each color is over the screen when that color's B&W image is being shown. The end result is perfectly reasonable color television. -- kainaw 22:02, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Guitar effect

hello,

how do you call the effect in Blind Boy Fuller's "Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind", "Big Leg Woman Gets My Pay" or John Fahey's "Desperate Man Blues"? It has similarties with the sound of turned-on motorboat motors or the sound of washboards. Thanks. ♫GoP♫TCN 15:05, 3 January 2012 (UTC) [reply]

It's called "muting". I listened to the Blind Boy Fuller song on Youtube, and he's strumming the strings while muted. There are a few different techniques for doing so, but without seeing him doing it, it would be hard to tell exactly how he is doing it. You can mute with the left (fretting) hand by gently laying a finger across all strings, without actually fretting them. See Left-hand muting. Because of string harmonics (see Guitar harmonics) it isn't always possible to mute the strings in this way at all locations, but as long as you avoid the common harmonic intervals, you can produce that washboard sound. You can also mute with the strumming (right) hand using a Palm mute, this tends to still allow the notes or chord to sound slightly, so I don't think he's doing that, but a palm mute has a definite percussive sound. A third option is that he's playing some sort of Prepared guitar which has muted the strings. Johnny Cash used a prepared guitar to produce the "train" sounds (very similar to the sound you note above) in Folsom Prison Blues, among other songs, by jamming a piece of paper under the strings to mute them. --Jayron32 15:21, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. Can you tell what is meant with "roll", here? ♫GoP♫TCN 15:43, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
When I have seen that term in reference to stringed instruments, it's a type of fingerpicking pattern, see Banjo roll for an example with the Banjo. I'm not sure why that tab has it, I don't see an obvious roll in the bar underneath that note; however the bar above that note looks like it could be played as a roll. --Jayron32 15:50, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
By the by, that tab you gave shows, instead of a "roll", a style of fingerpicking similar toTravis picking. --Jayron32 15:56, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sabrina the Teenage Witch turning only one boyfriend into a frog

In the TV show Sabrina the Teenage Witch, there is great concern that when she kisses her mortal boyfriend (Harvey), he will turn into a frog. And the plot point of one episode in the first season is that this does happen. But, Sabrina has other mortal boyfriends during the show's run, and there never seems to be any concern that this will happen to them. Why was the frog issue only a concern for Harvey? RudolfRed (talk) 21:40, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

See plot hole, continuity error, etc. --Jayron32 22:14, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
That's probably right. Thanks. RudolfRed (talk) 04:31, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Her aunts also have mortal boyfriends without anything happening to them. As the episode is called "First Kiss" maybe it only happens on the first kiss? --Colapeninsula (talk) 21:43, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Marlboro Man advertising

I was told, many years ago and have always believed, that Charlie Conerly, former NY Giants Quarterback, was one of the original celebs, chosen to portray the Marlboro Man---he certainly had the good looks and rugged reputation. Do you know if Conerly was ever used? Thank you, Walllace E. McMillan, Jackson,MS <email removed for security purposes> — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.107.133.34 (talk) 22:44, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If you read the Wikipedia article Charlie Conerly you will find the answer to your question. Also, I removed you email address as it is a VERY bad idea to publish your email address on a public website. --Jayron32 22:48, 3 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

January 4

Why didn't Teletubbies return to PBS?

I checked some Vegas PBS listings for January 2012 but Teletubbies is not seen yet. Do you know why? Can someone please tell me? If you can't find a news article for it, contact your local PBS station and give me the answer. Thanks.

68.224.119.202 (talk) 03:10, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

According to the Wikipedia article Teletubbies the show was produced only until 2001, and only aired nationally until 2005 in re-runs, so you're about 6 years too late to catch it on PBS. I suppose some local stations may have carried it later than that, or maybe it runs in syndication somewhere. The Wikipedia article does not indicate why it was cancelled, but every show gets cancelled sometime (well, except for a few, like 60 Minutes and The Simpsons). There can be any number of reasons, but it usually boils down to poor ratings; the network or producers usually believe they can make more money or get better ratings with a different show. --Jayron32 03:26, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for your answer. 68.224.119.202 (talk) 05:26, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
If you are interested in seeing it, I believe you can find many episodes on DVD. See [7]. --Jayron32 05:29, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
There was some criticism of TTs, such as them never talking in complete sentences, for example. It's difficult to figure out what exactly were they were supposed to be teaching. This might be fine for commercial TV, but PBS generally aims for educational kids shows. This might have had something to do with the cancellation. StuRat (talk) 05:35, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

unique movies and novels

Friends, please name some movies and/or tv series with a different/unique/unusual screenplay (Ex: non-linear like nolan films, recurring scenes like Groundhogday, Source code). Also name some of the novels with this stuff. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.224.149.10 (talk) 05:33, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There have been some like He Said, She Said, where the same event is shown from different POVs. Movies involving time travel tend to be non-linear, like The Time Traveler's Wife. StuRat (talk) 05:38, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict)If you are looking for non-linear plots, some ideas:
Films:
Anything directed by Terry Gilliam
Books
I'm sure others will come to recommend some more. --Jayron32 05:40, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
There have been some that have multiple story lines that don't seem to be connected but later interweave such as Short Cuts and 2 Days in the Valley. Dismas|(talk) 05:46, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
See Category:Nonlinear narrative films. Searching for "Psychological thrillers" on Google will also give you a good list.-- Obsidin Soul 06:38, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
For novels, there is stuff like Behind Closed Doors by Alina Reyes which is one of those books that gives you choices. You know, there are two doors and if you take the left one, go to chapter 6, while if you take the right one, go to chapter 7. I think this kind of fiction is more common for young readers than for adults. Is there a name for it?
Also, The Unfortunates by B. S. Johnson, which can be read in any order. --Viennese Waltz 08:50, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Choose Your Own Adventure is the name of the biggest series of those books. Dismas|(talk) 13:46, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, and that article gives the name of the genre – gamebook. I knew it had a name but couldn't think of it. Thanks. --Viennese Waltz 13:51, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Sliding Doors takes as its premise, the effect on someone's life of missing a train, and the film is shot from both perspectives (one of catching the train and one of missing the train). --TammyMoet (talk) 12:55, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Mr. Nobody (2009) takes the plot based on parallel universes even further, though it also uses the choice of boarding a train or not as the first branch.-- Obsidin Soul 13:07, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
And Kieślowski's Blind Chance (1981) also follows the consequences of catching or not catching a train. Since he was first maybe he should sue. --Antiquary (talk) 18:56, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Some films have multiple endings - Clue, for example. Run Lola Run shows roughly the same story three times, with small changes leading to different outcomes. Warofdreams talk 13:30, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
A few directors come to mind: David Fincher, Takeshi Kitano, Stanley Kubrick, David O. Russell, Wes Anderson, Spike Jonze. Vranak (talk) 15:32, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Discovery HD world music

what music is that in the latest tv commercial featuring discovery HD world? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.224.149.10 (talk) 05:40, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You're more likely to get an answer if you provide a link to YouTube or something showing the ad. I just YouTubed "discovery hd world" and no recent videos came up, although plenty of old ones did. --Viennese Waltz 13:02, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

A search glitch in Windows 7 when trying to search files on your J:\ drive that is first used on a Windows XP PC

My Windows XP PC has some issues months ago so I had to use my Windows 7 PC. I have my J:\ (Iomega eGo) and K:\ backup drives connected to it. Whenever I go to Start Menu and search for anything like a video clip on those drives, my Win7 PC doesn't have any privileges to find any of them, so it goes "No files found." I want to keep track of some dates for my videos in chronological order so that I can remember what date to upload videos to YouTube (every day, every week and every year). So, you can't be able to do it unless you use an old PC with Windows XP SP2 on it. What the heck, Microsoft? How did this go unnoticed? Damn, this is even lazier than the glitches Microsoft looked over in Windows Vista. Please help.

68.224.119.202 (talk) 20:02, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This problem is caused because of the way Windows 7 searches for files. Before it can search on a drive, it needs to 'index' all the files on that drive. However, Windows 7 does not index files on removable drives. There is a workaround, though. Follow the instructions here, and then post back here if the problem is not solved. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 20:44, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
One small note. This question would be better placed on the Computing Reference Desk. See WP:RD/C. Dismas|(talk) 20:51, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I obviously need more sleep - I assumed this WAS the Computing desk, and was trying to work out why the other questions were about things I didn't understand... - Cucumber Mike (talk) 20:54, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Why is WildTangent Speedway no longer up for download?!?

When I little, I used to play this game on my first Windows XP PC before it was broken but not anymore. On the Fortune City website, every time I go to the download link for it, it takes me to some random "About WildTangent" website. Please click on the link below and you will see why.

http://members.fortunecity.com/mpegx/aplugingame.shtml

68.224.119.202 (talk) 21:07, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]